#old age pension scheme

[jantanow]

राकेश मिश्र अध्यक्ष और पुष्पेन्द्र कुमार बने महामंत्री

दिलीप कुमार बस्ती रिपोर्टर – दिनांक 07 अगस्त 2024 को ब्लाक संसाधन केन्द्र कप्तानगंज के सभागार में अटेवा की एक गोष्टी आयोजित हुई जिसमें राकेश कुमार मिश्र अटेवा के ब्लाक अध्यक्ष व पुष्पेन्द्र कुमार को कप्तानगंज ब्लाक का महामंत्री नामित किया गया । NPS का मतलब नो पेंशन स्कीम -तौआब अली जिला संयोजक अटेवा गोष्ठी में उपस्थित शिक्षक व शिक्षिकाओं को संबोधित करते हुए अटेवा के तेजतर्रार जिला संयोजक तौआब अली…

[townpostin]

Ex-MP Dr. Ajoy Kumar's Jankalyan Rath Benefits Over 1200 People in Jamshedpur

Dr. Ajoy Kumar’s initiative brings welfare schemes to the doorsteps of Jamshedpur residents, helping them access various government benefits. The Jankalyan Rath (vehicle) was launched by former MP and senior Congress leader Dr. Ajoy Kumar on July 9 at Baridih Chowk. The purpose of this initiative is to provide information about state government welfare schemes and help residents avail these…

[ukrfeminism]

Women would need to work for an extra 19 years to retire with the same pension savings as men, according to data from the Pensions Policy Institute.

The research found women retiring at 67 – the new UK state pension age from 2026 – will have saved an average of £69,000, compared with £205,000 for men.

The data, published by the PPI and pensions provider Now: Pensions, suggests that under the current system, in order to close the “gender pension gap” a girl would need to start saving at three years old to retire with the same amount of money as working men.

Career gaps, caring responsibilities, childcare costs and lower earnings all contribute to the disparity.

As automatic enrolment into workplace pensions – where workers are put into a pension scheme into which they and their employer pay – starts at the age of 22, the 19-year gap meant that “by age three, girls are already falling behind boys in their provision for later life”, the researchers claimed.

However, women often live longer than men – on average by about seven years – meaning their retirement pots also need to last longer.

Now: Pensions is calling for the £10,000-a-year earnings threshold for people to be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension to be removed because it excludes many women who hold multiple jobs or work part-time or as freelancers.

The UK state pension age of 66 is set to rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. From 2044, it is expected to rise to 68. However, research issued earlier this week suggested it would have to rise to 71 for those born after April 1970.

Separate industry figures issued on Wednesday indicated that the estimated amount of money needed to enjoy a “moderate” standard of living in retirement had jumped by £8,000 – or 34% – in a year as a result of the cost of living crisis and changes in behaviour.

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has developed the “retirement living standards” to show what life in retirement looks like at three different levels – minimum, moderate and comfortable. Last year it said a single person needed about £12,800 a year to meet the minimum threshold but this year the figure has been put at £14,400.

The new threshold for a moderate standard of living in later life is £31,300 for a single person – up from £23,300 a year ago. To meet the comfortable threshold, the new figure is £43,100 a year for one person – up from £37,300.

The pension provider Scottish Widows said securing a guaranteed annual income of £23,300 for life would require a pension pot of about £500,000 – but securing an income of £31,300 would mean amassing a pension pot of more than £750,000.

The PLSA said its latest research “reflects the price rises that households have faced, particularly in food and energy use”, but also highlighted the increasing importance people placed on spending time with family and friends away from the home, as people’s priorities have changed after the coronavirus pandemic.

[electrosquash]

Every now and then there's a thread in the german redditsphere asking how people are preparing financially for old age. You'd expect a mix of ETF investment funds, company pension schemes, national old age pension (lol), Riester/Rürup Rente (lol), crypto (lol), mooching off your children (lol) and private savings. But instead the top voted comment is always suicide. And at least half the other comments are some variation of not living to old age. And i don't think any of those are meant ironically. None of the options listed above will be viable when we reach retirement age. This should be alarming.

[mwananchicreditbest]

Mwananchi Credit Highlights the Importance of Teaching Financial Literacy In Schools

How many times have we read numerous newspaper articles about children who squandered their inheritance money or how they trusted quick “get rich” schemes and was dubbed out of it? Again, how many times have we seen an employee who worked tirelessly for 30+ years and went on retirement, only to splurge away their pension pay-outs and suffer in their old age? Better yet, how many young people currently employed are living from paycheck to paycheck with debts overwhelming them, credit cards here, over-drafts there, revolving loans, the list is endless. The most common reason is that many heirs, pensioners or even the young workforce are simply inexperienced at handling money.

A million dollars can be put to so much good use. However, once it is spent recklessly, it can no longer produce income. Isn’t it amazing that we all completed high school knowing algebra, the scientific table, and the human anatomy, but not how to open a bank account, how to file a tax return, the importance of having funeral covers or even something as simple as budgeting and saving?

The current education system is slow to teach simple money management habits/techniques to children growing up. Most young people will graduate from universities or start new businesses with no financial foundation. As a society we lack basic financial literacy thus teaching financial literacy in schools is critical in passing on general wealth.

Financial attitudes and habits begin to mold at a very young age. It is extremely important to expose children to how to use money wisely and to smart financial decision making. School curriculum can range from budgeting and cash flows so that young people understand the concept of ‘money in, money out’ and how that will impact them in the long term.

Our young people need to know how loans work, how interests are charged on these loans and how it can impact their financial situation over the long run. Notwithstanding the above, the importance of retirement planning the power of putting a little bit of money away today and where that can land you in the future, are all critical. By teaching financial literacy in schools, we can change the narrative from poverty to debt-free lifestyle, from inheritance money being a “curse” to a gift.

Furthermore, we can pass on generational wealth by enabling our young people to make informed decisions. In this digital and social media era, we find that our young people take out a personal loans today just to finance a trip to Paris or California and only to realize that upon their return, they must start repaying this loan with a very high interest rate for four years. Just to take out another loan to offset that and find themselves in a pool of financial difficulty.

I know that many might argue that if you are a high school teenager, you most likely don’t have much money, you don’t have access to credit, you don’t have a job- so is there really any point in teaching such a youngster about savings, investing, taxes or budgeting? However, many of us were taught religious, moral education and life skills in school and that shaped us in many ways for life. We learned basic principles of respect, sharing, caring and discovering our identity. Another subject that was introduced in recent years was entrepreneurship because it uses developing real world skills that will help learners lead exceptional lives in a rapidly changing world by teaching children to think outside the box.

Many western countries have introduced Financial Literacy in their school curriculum examples of these countries are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden just to name a few.

Our current school curriculum equips children how to be great doctors and individuals with great business skills. Since the children of today are going to be the leaders of tomorrow, financial literacy will equip them with the skills they will need to become financially literate adults. In the end their future and that of our country Kenya is depending on it.

Mwananchi credit is the leading Microfinance company in Kenya providing log book loans and other secured emergency loans, Mwananchi Credit is at the forefront in championing for financial literacy good finance planning for individuals and SMEs.

Welcome to Mwananchi credit, Investor in people

PLEASE CALL 0709 147 000  SMS:’’LOAN’’ TO 23877 OR DIAL *684#

Article by Gitonga Muriithi, Head of Commercial, Mwananchi Credit

[guiltypleasurefandomface]

Okay...

I know this is controversial but bare with me.

When you think of old age pensioners you, like me, might think of little elderly people who walk hunched over on sticks, have false teeth and struggle to get money out of their purses because of their arthritic fingers.

Because that's what old age pensioners were when I was a kid. Everyone my grans age were like, proper old.

And... Setting aside the adjacent but not quite relevant point that these days a lot of elderly People are fittter and healthier than a lot of younger people, and don't automatically need more mobility aids than a young person with a chronic illness...

Keanu Reeves is old enough to live in an age-locked assisted housing flat. He is 2 years away from being eligible for a pre-pensioners bus pass in the Merseyside area.

Brian May, who still rocks it on stage during tours, sometimes like a man possessed by the soul of Jimi Hendrix, probably does have a national pensioners bus pass.

Him and Roger Taylor could technically go on Saga holidays if they so wanted.

Tom Hanks would be eligible for the free boiler scheme to stop him freezing to death in winter if lived in England.

Rod Stewart could get £200 in iceland vouchers over the year to make sure his cupboards are fully stocked in the cost of living crisis.

And I suppose my point is, being an old age pensioner isn't seen as sexy or attractive but people who are seen as attractive or sexy are now or nearly are old age pensioners. But that's not the image pensioners have...

But society basically says you get to 55 and then that's it, you're old and you need to start winding down on life now. 65? Oh dear better sit down before your bones crumple into a heap whilst I make you a cup of tea. Here's a woollen blanket and here's your fall alarm...

You wouldn't say any of that to Tom Jones, would you? You wouldn't say that to Roger Daltry or Alice Cooper.

[thechangeling]

Ok maybe I'm just sleep-deprived but all this build up in sobh plus kit's childhood trauma and the whole watson thing is making me think that kit's going to have a moriarty moment

Bc like moriarty is a criminal mastermind who is described by sherlock(?I think?) to be "the organiser of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city". Essentially he's saying that moriarty gets away with his schemes because he goes undetected. Rook taught kit from a young age to be undetected, plus jessa wants kit to lay low and not have a bunch of attention on him. Here's another quote connecting to how both kit and moriarty go unnoticed, "But so aloof is he from general suspicion, so immune from criticism, so admirable in his management and self-effacement, that for those very words that you have uttered he could hale you to a court and emerge with your year's pension as a solatium for his wounded character"

And as far as we know, ty and kit are going in twp still stuck in that fight with residing anger still inside because they never got closure. And since the fae are probably the bad guys in the series as well, if kit decides to stand with them it could cause him and ty to be on opposing sides. And then we can match the dynamic to that of sherlock and moriarty

Also, kit is very smart. He taught himself everything from old textbooks or just books in general from the age of ten, not to mention how observant he is naturally. I think cc is really setting this up to plot twist that kit isn't a watson but a moriarty

Ignore my rambling my brain just will not shut up-

Ok this is really interesting and I would personally love an enemies/opposing teams plotline for kitty. Very Faith and Buffy circa season 3 of btvs.

However, I would argue that CC'S writing is pretty formulaic. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Love a good pattern. But it means I don't see her making one of the main characters into a villian. Sure Grace is pretty morally gray but she was never really presented as one of the good guys or a part of the group like Kit. And yes you could argue that Kit's only real connection to the LA squad was Livvy and Ty and now Livvy's dead and he and Ty are on the outs. But he is shown to be connected to other "good guys" like Tessa and Jem and shown to be still close with Dru.

Also, Kit doesn't really have much connection to his faerie side. The only faerie he is even remotely close to is Kieran. Whereas he has plenty of shadowhunters and non fae he's close to. It doesn't really make sense that he would side with the fae.

Finally. CC usually has a pretty black and white morality style for her books. Yes their are morally gray characters but the main villians are usually 100% evil. Think of the cohort and how their bigotry is always presented as completely obvious and blatent, which yes it can be. But it can also be sneaky and subtle ie microaggressions. Anyways my point is I doubt she would place a beloved good guy character on the side of the villians and place him up against the other mains.

I mean I wish she would, but I don't think it's happening.

[loathsomebrian]

Except that isn't how they work because again and again governments and corps sell or undermine pension schemes, so the poor have no protections come old age and the rich get richer. When I got old of I don't have a passive income from my publishing or _some other job_ I'll probably just kill myself. Which fucking sucks. Fuck, I'm one dibilitating illness away from that anyway. We're all fucked. Nothing fucking matters.

Pensions sound so fake as a zillennial. You work for one place for decades (already sounds fake) and then afterwards you leave and they just. keep paying you. the same amount of money. to do nothing. for the rest of your life. if i wasn't already aware that this was something that readily and commonly existed during my grandparent's days then it would sound like some kind of socialist pipe dream

[jaagrukbharat]

NPS Vatsalya Scheme: Full Details, Calculator, Tax Benfits, Interest Rate

The National Pension System (NPS) is a government-initiated retirement saving scheme that helps people save for their old age. This govt scheme has a unique addition named NPS Vatsalya offering more advantages and aid to the beneficiaries. If you are considering joining it, then this article will explain NPS Vatsalya Scheme Eligibility, NPS Vatsalya Benefits, and NPS Vatsalya Interest Rate in detail.

[sarkariyojnaalerts]

Jan Suchna Portal Rajasthan 2024: Complete Guide to Govt Schemes

The Jan Suchna Portal Rajasthan is a government initiative to provide transparent and quick access to information on various state and central schemes. It is designed to help citizens easily find details about eligibility, required documents, and application processes for numerous welfare programs in Rajasthan.

Key Features:

Easy Access: Find information on 100+ government schemes in one place.

Check Eligibility: Quickly verify if you qualify for specific schemes.

Document Requirements: Get a list of necessary documents before applying.

How to Use the Jan Suchna Portal?

Visit jansoochna.rajasthan.gov.in.

Choose the scheme you want to learn about.

Enter the necessary details to check eligibility.

Top Schemes Available:

Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana: Financial help for girls' education.

Old Age Pension Scheme: Monthly pension for senior citizens.

Bhamashah Health Insurance: Health coverage for BPL families.

The Jan Suchna Portal makes it easy for residents to stay informed and access government benefits without any hassle. For more updates, visit jan suchna.

[townpostin]

321 Pension Approval Certificates Distributed in Jamshedpur

Senior Citizen Pension Certificates Distributed at Baridih Assembly Office Under the directives of Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy, 321 approval certificates for the Chief Minister’s State Old Age Pension Scheme were distributed at the Baridih Assembly office on Sunday. JAMSHEDPUR – On Sunday, 321 approval certificates for the Chief Minister’s State Old Age Pension Scheme were distributed at the…

[thetimesnews-live]

How a Dallas Hedge Fund Manager Got Caught Up in a World of Fraud

How Barrett Wissman went from running a lawn-care company to orchestrating a $100 million scheme that has him standing in the cross hairs of the SEC.

On March 19, 2009, the New York Office of the Attorney General and the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., dropped two bombshells on the secretive world of high finance. For two years, the agencies had run a coordinated investigation into how New York’s comptroller picked investments for the state’s $150 billion pension fund. On that Thursday, the New York AG released a 123-count indictment of two men who worked for disgraced former comptroller Alan Hevesi. The charges included securities fraud, bribery, and money laundering. The SEC complaint mirrored the AG’s charges, saying that Hank Morris, the top political strategist and chief fundraiser for Hevesi, and David Loglisci, the top investment officer of the pension fund, orchestrated a scheme that netted the men and other Hevesi associates tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks from firms that invested the pension fund’s money.

News of the charges rocked Wall Street. But as the shock waves rippled across the country, they especially rattled an office on the 40th floor of Thanksgiving Tower in downtown Dallas. That’s where a central figure in the scheme worked—though the court filings, curiously, didn’t mention him by name. The AG’s indictment called him “John Doe 1.” The SEC went with its own cryptic nomenclature, referring to him as “Individual A.”

Who was he? And why wasn’t he identified? Officials weren’t talking, so the second question was anyone’s guess. Perhaps the mystery man had struck a deal with prosecutors. In exchange for his cooperation, maybe they had agreed not to name him. But the first question was easy to answer. There were enough clues in the filings to figure it out, which made the man’s “anonymity” even more puzzling.

The SEC complaint, for instance, mentioned that Individual A had invested at least $100,000 to market and distribute a comedy called Chooch that was produced by David Loglisci and his brothers. The low-budget movie is a story unto itself, but suffice to say it features Mexican prostitutes, a 9-pound dachshund named Kiwi Limone, and a slapstick donkey-riding scene. The SEC also said Individual A was a Loglisci family friend.

A few pages after the Chooch details—as if to say, “If you still haven’t figured it out, then here’s the giveaway”—the SEC complaint revealed that Individual A was associated with HFV Management, a hedge fund firm. The SEC alleged that Individual A paid a total of $600,000 in kickbacks to land $100 million worth of investments from the New York state pension fund. (Such investments would generate substantial fees for the firm that managed them.) Even better, the SEC alleged that once Individual A saw how the scheme worked, he wanted in on it. For a cut of the action, he funneled kickbacks from other investment managers to Loglisci and Morris.

There was only one man who was both a friend of Loglisci’s and also associated with HFV—aka Hunt Financial Ventures, the eponymous firm of Clark Hunt, located on the 40th floor of Thanksgiving Tower in the same suite where his father, Lamar Hunt, once ran his sports and business empire. That man was 46-year-old Barrett Wissman.

And who is Barrett Wissman, exactly, besides a central figure in an ever-expanding investigation that has led to more than 100 subpoenas being issued to investment firms across the country, that has embroiled no less than the Treasury Department’s Steven Rattner, and that has raised serious questions about how billions of dollars in state pension funds from New York to California are managed? It depends on whom you ask. Wissman, through his lawyer’s PR man, declined an interview request. But his rabbi says he’s a great guy. His godmother, on the other hand, says he’s a liar and a cheat.

In the mid-’90s, money was pouring into that Thanksgiving Tower office. On one side was the Hunt Sports Group, decorated with a signed Joe Montana Kansas City Chiefs jersey and other memorabilia related to its sports holdings. But the real action was on the other end of the office, where work of a decidedly less public nature was under way. That’s where Clark Hunt and his partner Barrett Wissman operated HW Finance and an associated thicket of offshore trusts and other financial vehicles (“HW” came from their last names).

Word around the office was that Wissman had gone to Yale and worked for a couple of years in international finance for Lazard Freres in New York City. Then his father had died, and he’d moved back to Dallas, just two years out of college, to assume control of the family’s chemical company, which he eventually sold. Some said he’d pocketed as much as $80 million. With that success, he’d persuaded Hunt, a friend from St. Mark’s, to launch an offshore fund called Infinity Investors with him.

Wissman’s aunt and godmother laughs at the notion. The family’s chemical company? It was called Athena Products. In addition to Veripretty tablecloths and Pretty Please housewares, it made lawn-care products under the brand name Carl Pool. It’s unclear when it was sold, but records indicate that in 1995 the company had just 30 employees and did only $2.5 million in sales. Wissman’s aunt says the family business didn’t make him wealthy. Far from it.

“I lent him money to keep Carl Pool out of bankruptcy,” says 78-year-old Rachelle, who asked that her last name not be used. “When I asked to be paid back, he claimed the money was a gift.”

In 1990, a Bexar County court ruled that Wissman had forged his aunt’s signature to defraud her of $96,250. “He was stupid enough to forge my signature on stationery that was not printed until two months after I supposedly wrote the letter on that stationery,” Rachelle says. Wissman was ordered to pay $233,919, which included awards for punitive damages and mental anguish. Rachelle says that in 1997, years after her godson had gone into business with Hunt, she was still trying to get him to pay up.

“You know, I haven’t spoken to his mother in years,” Rachelle says. “He basically tore the family to pieces. And prior to this, we were a very close-knit family. I would like to see him get his comeuppance. He took years out of my life in litigation that could have been avoided if he’d just done the right thing. There was something that made him feel that he was better than everybody else, smarter, more talented.”

A business associate who worked closely with Wissman in the Hunt office agrees with the assessment: “Barrett made me feel like he thought, ‘There’s me. And then there’s people like you. But I understand that, and you understand that, so we’re cool.’ ”

The associate tells a curious story about how Wissman once repaid a debt. The associate would rather not say exactly what he was owed, but when he hounded Wissman for the money, a partial payment finally showed up in an overnight package from a lawyer in London. Hundred-dollar bills were taped inside a magazine. “I can’t remember if it was Der Spiegel or what,” the associate says. “It wasn’t like it was sloppily taped in there. It was professionally done. The bills were taped throughout the magazine.”

This was the man who in 2005 secured the first of two $50 million investments from New York state’s pension fund. On the one hand, Wissman doesn’t present the picture of someone to whom such a sum ought to be entrusted. His previous Infinity fund had been burned so badly—losing bets on Russian bonds right before the 1998 “Ruble Crises,” then on a series of Internet companies right before that bubble burst—that the name HW Finance had to be shed like dead skin. The firm adopted the new name HFV. No “W” anywhere in it.

On the other hand, Wissman has an air about him. In 2001, he married an exotic Russian cellist named Nina Kotova, who worked for a time as a model. He’s also an accomplished pianist with a master’s degree in music from SMU. In 2003, he bought the talent agency IMG Artists, which represents performers from violinist Itzhak Perlman to dance troupe Pilobolus. He speaks six languages and has launched a series of music festivals around the world.

More important, though, he knows people. People like Steven Loglisci, brother of David Loglisci, the indicted top investment adviser with New York state’s pension fund. Steven was the New York director of Ross Perot’s 1992 presidential campaign, for which Wissman volunteered. In 1998, Steven served as New Jersey Senator Robert Torricelli’s financial adviser at Bear Stearns, until Wissman persuaded him to take over a struggling Internet company called e.Volve, which the senator then invested in—right before Wissman’s eVentures bought e.Volve, giving the senator a huge immediate paper gain on his investment. Torricelli later had to abandon a re-election bid over an unrelated ethics scandal. A third Loglisci brother, Nicholas, ran a computer networking company whose board included not only Wissman but also Torricelli’s ex-wife and his girlfriend.

It’s a complicated mess. Determining where the various conflicts of interest lie will take months, if not years. But Wissman appears to be helping prosecutors figure it out. In April, he pleaded guilty to a felony securities fraud and agreed to pay $12 million in penalties and is said to be cooperating in the investigation. HFV Management and HFV Asset Management agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty without admitting or denying wrongdoing.

Some people who’ve known Wissman for years are left scratching their heads. Rabbi Jack Bemporad, who officiated at Wissman’s wedding and now is a professor at the Vatican’s Angelicum University in Rome, says, “The person that I’ve known for 20 years has always been kind and generous. All I know is what I read in the paper. I find it absolutely astonishing. It’s just not the person I know.”

Scurry Johnson, who knows Wissman from St. Mark’s and runs a Dallas venture capital firm, says, “In my mind, he was never a thoroughly knowledgeable investment banker or hedge fund manager himself. So he may have been in the middle of a bunch of people who were more financially devious. Or I don’t know what the words are.”

But up on the 40th floor of Thanksgiving Tower, Clark Hunt has apparently made up his mind. After Wissman’s guilty plea, Hunt ordered the golden “HFV” initials taken down from the wooden front door. A few days later, when building maintenance workers still hadn’t removed the letters, Hunt let his displeasure be known. So the office manager went out there himself with a chisel and scraped them off. Then he covered the ugly spot on the door with brown shoe polish.

[sonalj]

How to Check Old-Age Pension Status: Step-by-Step Guide For smooth old-age pension management, check eligibility, submit documents, monitor balances, and consult a tax professional for benefits.

Old-age pension is a vital government-sponsored program financially supporting senior citizens who have retired from active employment. This pension plan ensures that the elderly have a steady source of income to cover their basic needs, such as medical care, thereby enhancing their overall quality of life and financial security. Understanding how to check old-age pension status and also how to check old age pension status online of your old-age pension application is crucial for beneficiaries to stay informed about their financial assistance.

What is Old-Age Pension? A base of government-sponsored welfare initiatives is precisely crafted to extend crucial financial lifelines to senior citizens who have gracefully retired from the time of active employment. By offering a steady income stream, this pension scheme profoundly impacts the lives of elderly individuals, ensuring they can sustainably cover their basic necessities, encompassing not only essential maintenance like food but also requirements such as secure shelter and access to vital medical care.

In essence, the old-age pension program serves as a pillar of social support, ensuring the overall well-being and financial stability of our elderly, reflecting a deep commitment to unity across generations.

How to Check Old-Age Pension Status Online Checking old-age pension status online offers convenience and accessibility. Let us explore how you can easily monitor the progress of your pension application or review your current status with just a few clicks.

Government Pension Portals Visit the Official Portal: Go to the official government pension website to check old-age pension status online. Login or Register: If you already have an account, log in using your credentials. If not, you must register by providing your details, such as name, date of birth, and identification number. Locate the Pension Status Section: Once you have logged in to check your old-age pension status, look for a section labeled ‘Pension Status’ or something similar. Enter Required Information: You might need to enter your application reference number or other personal details to retrieve your status and check your old-age pension status online. View Status: After submitting the required information, your current pension status will be displayed on the screen. This status will inform you whether your application is under review or approved or if additional information is needed.

[crossborderfinancialplanning]

Cross-Border Retirement Planning: Maximizing U.S. and Canadian Social Security and Pension Benefits

Planning for retirement is a complex process even for those who live and work entirely within one country. But for individuals who have split their careers between the United States and Canada, retirement planning introduces an entirely new set of challenges. Whether you're a dual citizen, an expatriate, or someone who has worked on both sides of the border, understanding how to maximize your social security and pension benefits is essential. That’s where Cross-Border Retirement Planning comes into play.

In this comprehensive blog, we will explore the key elements of cross-border retirement planning, focusing on how individuals can optimize both U.S. and Canadian Social Security and pension benefits. We'll also explain how a cross-border financial advisor can be crucial in navigating the complexities of cross-border financial planning and cross-border wealth management.

Understanding Cross-Border Retirement Planning

Cross-Border Retirement Planning involves designing a comprehensive retirement strategy that accounts for different financial systems, tax regimes, and social security programs in two countries— in this case, the U.S. and Canada. For individuals who have lived or worked in both countries, it’s crucial to understand the rules governing retirement benefits in each nation, as they differ significantly.

Navigating the complexities of these systems requires specialized knowledge of both the U.S. and Canadian retirement landscapes. Many people mistakenly assume that retirement benefits will seamlessly transfer between the two countries, only to find themselves struggling with unnecessary tax burdens, reduced benefits, or inefficient investment strategies.

This is where cross-border financial planning comes into play. A cross-border financial planner understands the intricacies of both countries' tax laws, pension schemes, and social security agreements. Their expertise allows them to help you maximize your benefits and make strategic decisions to ensure you have a financially secure retirement.

How U.S. and Canadian Social Security Systems Work

Before diving into strategies for maximizing benefits, it’s important to understand how social security and pension systems operate in both countries.

U.S. Social Security

The U.S. Social Security system provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to eligible individuals. To qualify for retirement benefits, you need to earn at least 40 credits, which typically translates to 10 years of work. Your benefit amount is calculated based on your 35 highest-earning years, adjusted for inflation.

Retirees can claim their benefits as early as age 62, but doing so will result in reduced monthly payments. Full retirement age (FRA) varies depending on your birth year, but for most people today, it's between 66 and 67. Delaying benefits beyond your FRA increases your payments by 8% per year, up until age 70.

Canadian Pension Plans

Canada has two primary pension programs: the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security (OAS).

CPP: Like U.S. Social Security, the CPP is a contributory program that requires workers to pay into the system during their working years. The amount you receive depends on your contributions and the age at which you begin claiming benefits. The earliest you can claim CPP is age 60, but waiting until age 65 results in a full benefit. Delaying benefits until age 70 provides a higher monthly payout.

OAS: This program is available to Canadians age 65 or older, regardless of work history, provided they meet residency requirements. OAS benefits can also be deferred until age 70 for a larger payout.

The Totalization Agreement: Bridging the Gap Between U.S. and Canadian Social Security

One of the most important components of cross-border retirement planning is the Totalization Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. This agreement exists to prevent individuals who split their careers between the two countries from falling short of eligibility requirements for social security benefits.

Under the Totalization Agreement, your work history in both countries can be combined to meet eligibility requirements for benefits. For example, if you worked for 5 years in the U.S. and 5 years in Canada, you may still qualify for U.S. Social Security and CPP benefits, even though you didn’t reach the 10-year (40 credit) minimum required by U.S. Social Security on its own.

However, it's important to note that while the Totalization Agreement helps you qualify for benefits, it does not result in double benefits. Each country will calculate and pay benefits based on your contributions to its system.

Tax Considerations in Cross-Border Retirement Planning

Another significant aspect of cross-border financial planning involves tax considerations. Both the U.S. and Canada tax worldwide income, but each country has its own tax rules for pensions, social security, and retirement accounts. Moreover, the U.S. requires its citizens and permanent residents to file taxes regardless of where they live, creating potential tax liabilities for expatriates.

U.S. Taxation of Social Security and Canadian Pensions

For U.S. citizens or residents, U.S. Social Security benefits are taxable depending on your overall income. If you live in the U.S., up to 85% of your Social Security benefits could be taxed. However, if you reside in Canada, the situation is different due to the U.S.-Canada Tax Treaty.

Under the treaty, U.S. Social Security benefits are only taxed in the country where the recipient resides. If you’re living in Canada, your U.S. Social Security benefits are only taxed by Canada, at a flat rate of 15%.

CPP and OAS benefits, on the other hand, are treated as foreign pensions for U.S. tax purposes. While Canada taxes these benefits, they are also subject to U.S. tax reporting, creating the potential for double taxation. To avoid this, the U.S.-Canada Tax Treaty allows you to claim foreign tax credits on your U.S. return for the taxes you paid to Canada on your Canadian pension benefits.

Canadian Taxation of U.S. Social Security and Pensions

If you’re a Canadian resident receiving U.S. Social Security benefits, the treaty again comes into play. As mentioned earlier, Canada will tax your U.S. Social Security benefits at a flat 15% rate, which is typically lower than what the U.S. would tax those same benefits.

However, the taxation of Canadian pensions in the U.S. is more complicated. Both CPP and OAS benefits are taxable by Canada and must also be reported to the U.S. government. A cross-border financial advisor can help ensure that you minimize or eliminate double taxation by leveraging the tax treaty and using foreign tax credits or deductions where appropriate.

Retirement Accounts: Navigating IRAs, RRSPs, 401(k)s, and RRIFs

In addition to social security and pension benefits, many individuals have retirement savings in tax-advantaged accounts like IRAs, 401(k)s, RRSPs (Registered Retirement Savings Plans), and RRIFs (Registered Retirement Income Funds). Managing these accounts across borders is another key area where cross-border wealth management can help.

U.S. Retirement Accounts for Canadians

If you have an IRA or 401(k) from your time working in the U.S., you’ll need to carefully plan how to access these funds in retirement. Withdrawals from U.S. retirement accounts are taxable in both the U.S. and Canada, but the U.S.-Canada Tax Treaty again helps to prevent double taxation.

However, the tax treaty does not allow for tax-deferred rollovers between U.S. and Canadian retirement accounts, meaning you cannot simply transfer your IRA to an RRSP without triggering taxes. Additionally, if you reside in Canada, you will need to follow Canadian rules for reporting and taxing income from these accounts.

A cross-border financial advisor can help you create a withdrawal strategy that minimizes your overall tax burden and ensures compliance with both U.S. and Canadian tax laws.

Canadian Retirement Accounts for U.S. Residents

If you hold RRSPs or RRIFs and are a U.S. resident, you’ll face similar cross-border tax challenges. The U.S. does not automatically recognize RRSPs as tax-deferred accounts, meaning you may be required to report income on these accounts even if you haven’t taken any distributions. Fortunately, the U.S.-Canada Tax Treaty allows you to defer U.S. taxes on RRSPs and RRIFs until you actually withdraw funds, provided you file the appropriate forms with the IRS.

A cross-border financial planner can assist with the necessary paperwork to defer taxes and ensure that you’re not paying more than you owe on your Canadian retirement accounts.

Currency Exchange and Inflation: Cross-Border Wealth Management

Another important factor in cross-border wealth management is currency risk. If your retirement income comes from a mix of U.S. and Canadian sources, fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar can significantly impact your purchasing power.

For example, if you’re a U.S. citizen living in Canada, a strong U.S. dollar means your U.S. Social Security benefits will go further when converted to Canadian dollars. Conversely, a weak U.S. dollar could erode the value of your retirement income.

Inflation is another concern, particularly if you plan to live in a country with higher inflation rates. Canada and the U.S. typically have similar inflation rates, but if one country experiences a significant rise in the cost of living, it could affect your retirement plans.

A cross-border financial advisor can help you develop strategies to mitigate currency risk and protect your retirement income from inflation. This might include diversifying your assets across different currencies or investing in inflation-protected securities.

Estate Planning in a Cross-Border Context

Estate planning is yet another aspect of cross-border financial planning that requires special attention. Different inheritance laws, estate taxes, and probate procedures in the U.S. and Canada can complicate your plans to pass on wealth to your heirs.

For example, the U.S. imposes an estate tax on the worldwide assets of its citizens and permanent residents, while Canada does not have an estate tax. However, Canada treats death as a “deemed disposition” of assets, meaning your estate may owe capital gains taxes on your assets when you pass away. This can create significant tax liabilities for estates that hold assets in both countries.

A cross-border financial planner can help you navigate the estate planning process by advising on tax-efficient strategies for passing on wealth, such as creating trusts, gifting assets, or purchasing life insurance to cover potential tax liabilities.

How a Cross-Border Financial Advisor Can Help

Given the complexities of managing retirement across two countries, working with a cross-border financial advisor is essential for maximizing your retirement benefits, minimizing your tax burden, and ensuring compliance with both U.S. and Canadian laws.

Here are some specific ways a cross-border financial advisor can help:

Maximizing Benefits: A cross-border financial planner understands both the U.S. and Canadian social security systems and can help you determine the optimal time to claim benefits from each country. They can also help you navigate the Totalization Agreement to ensure you receive the benefits you’re entitled to.

Tax Optimization: Taxes are a major concern in cross-border wealth management, and an advisor can help you minimize double taxation by leveraging tax treaties, foreign tax credits, and other tax-saving strategies.

Investment Strategies: A cross-border financial planner can help you develop an investment strategy that takes into account the tax laws of both countries, currency risk, and your overall retirement goals.

Estate Planning: An advisor can help you create a tax-efficient estate plan that ensures your assets are passed on to your heirs in the most efficient manner possible.

Compliance: A cross-border financial planner ensures that you comply with both U.S. and Canadian laws, including tax reporting requirements, retirement account withdrawals, and estate planning regulations.

Conclusion: The Importance of Cross-Border Retirement Planning

For individuals who have spent their working years in both the U.S. and Canada, cross-border retirement planning is essential for maximizing social security and pension benefits while minimizing tax burdens. From understanding the Totalization Agreement to navigating the tax implications of retirement accounts and social security, there are numerous factors to consider.

A cross-border financial advisor can help you create a comprehensive retirement strategy that addresses these challenges and ensures that you enjoy a financially secure retirement on both sides of the border. Whether it’s through cross-border wealth management, tax optimization, or estate planning, having a knowledgeable advisor by your side can make all the difference.

When it comes to retirement, the goal is simple: maximize your benefits, minimize your taxes, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. But for those with cross-border ties, achieving that goal requires a deep understanding of two different financial systems. With the help of a cross-border financial planner, you can confidently navigate the complexities of Canada U.S. financial planning and ensure that your golden years are as financially secure as possible.